Tag Archives: #GoGators

The SEC is Bad and We Played Horrible

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That seems to be the sentiment this morning, Gator Nation!

Sure, we did not put 50 on UMass like we should have.  We looked pedestrian at times and the fact remains our Offensive Line is nowhere near where we need it.  Truthfully, at halftime of our game last night the best SEC team was…..Kentucky who was up 35-0 on Southern Miss…..then absolutely collapsed and Alabama was behind 3-0 to USC.  Georgia was the lone bright spot in an absolutely horrid weekend of play and, honestly, I didn’t think they played that well either.   Is this a down year in the SEC?  Are we going to struggle like last year?  Yes, no, maybe, let’s talk some football…

We have a kicker, so let’s start with that Eddy Pineiro was absolutely as billed.  Just came in with ice in his veins and knocked three 40+ yard field goals like they were a day at the park.  He also brings a ton of energy and enthusiasm which is not a bad thing to have on the team.  If I sound optimistic, I will point out that he technically kicked and made over half the sum total of our made field goals last season (we did remove one from the scoreboard on a penalty).  The conditions were atrocious as well, so the fact he made them is a plus.

Our O-Line is young and most of our offense last night was geared at getting them going and in the game.  I agreed with Coach Mac’s decision to take away the made FG and go for it on 4th and 1 in the red zone.  Either we have what it takes to move the ball or we don’t.  We didn’t last night and it was apparent all night long.  Luke Del Rio managed the game well at QB and didn’t make any gross errors.  He threw good passes, but never really stretched the field.  Had he connected on the opening pass for a TD the tone might have been considerably different.  The fact we went for an opening play like that in the pouring rain was actually impressive.  NOTE: the rain is neither a factor in our play nor an excuse.  A team still has to execute.  I think there is more to the game than the score as well.  Running plays over on the side of true freshman, Jawaan Taylor, is more likely a need to beef up the game experience of the entire line itself rather than a need to score more point.

Yes, we were only up by 3 at the end of the third quarter, but we had the game in control.  Our defensive line performed well…too aggressive at times because UMass doesn’t score were it not for 35 yards in penalties on the one scoring drive they had.  Our secondary was not the same without Teez Tabor and having Duke Dawson leave early did not help.  Our young DB’s were often confused on routes.  I would expect a big difference next week in this area, primarily because Tabor is the leader of that unit and having him around is a good thing.  Dawson went out with an arm injury.  Will have to wait and see the outcome on this.  As I explained in my Facebook post this week my two areas of concern for this team are the offensive line and the secondary.  Not where we need them to be at this point.

I’m going official with this next proclamation.  I’m done with the running back by committee.  Yes, it was the proper game to do it, but leave it at alone at this point.  Give the ball to Jordan Scarlett until he proves he can’t do the job.  Rest him on plays with the others, but let him carry the load.  Period.  (I know McElwain is absolutely on pins and needles now that I’ve said this!)

Mississippi State, Kentucky, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas and the Gators did not represent well this weekend.  Whatever.  Some were embarrassing losses, some were potentially embarrassing.  Regardless, next week is next week.  A team figure things out, game plans and moves on.  I admit I was a bit giddy watching UT and South Carolina struggle on Thursday night.  Then watching the rest of the SEC lay stink bombs one after the other heightened that giddiness.  That obviously went away when I watched us last night.  At one point, I believed we were going to be the bright spot in the SEC this weekend.  Turned out not to be true.  Regardless, what will we will do is develop our talent.  Get more game reps in and work on the experience of a young team.  We get some playmakers back this next game and make some progress in our ability to execute.  I’d rather have a lackluster effort this week and win than a poor showing next week and lose.  I think our O-Line is in for a brutal week of practice.  That can only be a good thing.

It’s one weekend.  The conference has had a great run for well over a decade.  Odds were going to be like this at some point.  Time to focus on the next game.  We have Kentucky next week and the possibility of extending the win streak to 30 games.  Kentucky had an implosion at home last night so they likely have a long week ahead of them as well.  You just gotta love college football, Gator Nation!

Go Gators!

 

 

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Game Day and McElwain

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I couldn’t resist, Gator Nation!

My current personal situation requires a very conservative approach to social media, so the postings stopped and the weekly updates stopped. I didn’t mind too much because it was quite a bit to keep up with, but I couldn’t let the start of new season and new coach go by without some comments. I mean….that’s what I do….I comment on things. Things have been just too juicy for me to pass up this opportunity, thus I have some thoughts to share. We open the season against New Mexico State who will not show us anything about what the Gators are made of, but are a perfect opponent to get things rolling. Let’s talk some football…

The Jim McElwain era begins today and there is room for hope. He has approached the off season time with an attitude to “win now”. He made some moves to shore up our issues on the offensive line and he has positioned athletes as playmakers (see Brandon Powell) in hopes of generating far more offense than we have seen in recent years. That said, our offense will not be on the production of the Spurrier or Meyer teams just because we still have issues on the O-Line and we don’t have all the playmakers we need for an explosive offense. There have plenty of articles on the last time we played New Mexico State 25 years ago and the offensive juggernaut that were the Steve Spurrier teams, but he had an incoming trio of freshman receivers (along with Jack Jackson) that would go on to win us the National Championship. For the rabid Gator fan out there that is just ACHING for some serious offensive play here is my rule of thumb for the game and how best to judge the upcoming season in terms of what we can expect from the offense. If we are in the vicinity of 60 points at the start of the 4th quarter (think 60 +/- 5 points) then I would expect a far better offensive showing than the last four years. If we are in the vicinity of 40 points at the start of the 4th quarter (40 +/- 5 points) then I would not expect anything different than what we have seen in recent history. I don’t think this is a result of the coaching, but the O-Line, and the near term loss of Martez Ivey, combined with not enough receiving talent will be something that is hard to overcome this year. I think we have potential for a strong running game with Kelvin Taylor and company, but again it comes down to the O-Line and if we don’t have as much success passing downfield then it becomes a repeat of last year. We will just have to see.

Before I forget, we have a new Indoor Playing Facility (IPF). Yay. Moving on. Much has been made of the defense. I think our secondary will be good, but I’m not as confident about our pass rush on the D-Line or even how consistent our linebackers will be. I’m sure we all want to see a shutout. That would be nice. However, based upon New Mexico State’s QB play last year, it is very conceivable that we record 3-4 interceptions. Not kidding here. They threw multiple interceptions in 9 games last year. That’s A LOT! It is possible that we see a couple of defensive scores….which we all know I love, but will really not be indicative of anything significant other than watching Gator blue running early and often into the end zone. VH3 is set to be the punt returner as well as our premier defensive back. Among other things, that should be fun to watch. I know the first game of a head coach is huge for the fan base so we have some themes for this weekend’s game. How well will Treon Harris and Will Grier play? Is our defense for real? Is our offense better than expected? Will we pass down field? Special teams? How about Brandon Powell as a slot receiver? The bottom line is this…you have to be watching tonight. If you are a hard-core Gator like me or even a passing Gator fan, this game has too much to offer in the way of excitement, hope and amusement to pass it up. If this season turns out to be even special, then who better to celebrate it with than all of the Gator Nation!?!? It is like no other….and we are due. Gators 70 Aggies 3. I have always gone big with scores, but I expect more special teams and defensive scores than normal, so don’t read that much into this. It will be a great start to the Coach McElwain era and the excitement will build. If the last four years have left you ambivalent, then tonight should be an exception. Go to your nearest Gator Club and enjoy a festive atmosphere with the Gator Nation with a Victory over the Aggies in the Swamp! ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!
TGN

The Noise in the System is Screeching

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First loss by Florida to an FCS team ever, Gator Nation.

Probably first loss to a team with ZERO passing yards since the 1940’s.

Lost not only our first time to Vanderbilt in 23 years, but the first time we lost at home to them since 1949.

First six-game losing streak since 1979 and first losing season since then.

First time that Florida will not go to a bowl game since 1990….and that one was due to NCAA sanctions.

We have the longest streak in the nation in not being shutout.  Each successive week this year, I have grown more concerned that this streak will be coming to an end as well in the Muschamp era.  We have absolutely no offense and I truly don’t believe that we couldn’t muster more scoring opportunities against Georgia Southern than we did.  Frankly, if you take away GeoSo’s turnovers in the red zone, we aren’t even close to being able to win the game at the end.

We may even be looking at a year where we will lose to Miami, Georgia and Florida State.  That should absolutely be unheard of here?

I say it all the time…I’m not invested in streaks because they eventually come to an end, but I would have never predicted that we would end all our streaks in the same season.  Kentucky must be kicking themselves at not capitalizing on the opportunity this year.

I was not going to be surprised to see Jeremy Foley announce on Sunday that Will Muschamp’s tenure is over at Florida.  Of course, I was also not surprised that an announcement did not come.  Muschamp is our coach next year regardless of whatever happens next weekend against Florida State.  Everyone wanting him gone should concentrate their energy on something else. 

I ask this question to the GatorNation….”when was the last time you ever heard of a coach who has had this kind of season in their 3rd year and turned things around and won a National Championship?  An SEC or conference Champsionship?”  I don’t have the answer to that.

I understand that a first year coach may have this kind of season, but by now, you should be established in your program.  The injuries haven’t helped, but I also haven’t seen any action taken to rectify the problem (Note: I’m not close to the program so I’m only going on what has been reproted thus far).

Can a program in this state recover with the same head coach?  I ask this because I simply don’t have the answer.  I’ve never seen it done. 

If Will Muschamp pulls all this off at the end of the day, then I will fully support him going forward.  He needs to know, though, that he has asked for a great deal of trust from the Gator Nation and to this point he has not inspired confidence in that trust.

In all kinds of weather, Gator Nation!

Go Gators!

The Grounded Eagles

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Florida Gator

Florida Gator (Photo credit: johnny9s)

Triple Option Saturday, Gator Nation!

The Georgia Southern Eagles are coming to town with an offense that rolls up over 300 yards on the ground per game. Our last time we played them we won 62-14, yet they were still running the triple option and put up 300 yards on the ground against Spurrier, Wueffel and Company. I’m thinking we will be far from 62 by the end of the game. Let’s talk some football…

To sum up…Georgia Southern runs the ball quite a bit. They do pass the ball for an average of 100 yards a game, so they can throw it, but they just don’t. We should beat them because of all things that are happening right now with Gator football, we still have a pretty solid defense. If we get an interception this game then you can expect a blow out, but I’m not seeing that happen. We still need to force some turnovers because ultimately we need a short field for our offense. If GeoSo sustains drives to mid-field and then punts and pins us near the 20-25 yard line, it will be a long day. We should win, but I would not expect 62 points. We’ve basically scored 24 or more points four times this year and never more than 21. So how we are 27.5 point favorites for this game is beyond my comprehension. Our offense just doesn’t operate that fast. We would need defensive Touchdowns, special teams Touchdowns and lastly…offensive Touchdowns. What will become frustrating by halftime is that GeoSo will probably run for well over 100 yards by then.

I thought we played well against South Carolina and, frankly, the Gamecocks had to be sweating bullets by the start of the 4th quarter after Auburn took care of business and all they had to do was win. I still can’t tell you much about Skyler Mornhinweg but he did an admirable job for a third string QB in his first start on the road against the Head Ball Coach. Kelvin Taylor was also very good (maybe he gets 150 yards today). We didn’t do a very good job of countering SoCar in the second half on offense, but let’s face it….we were in better shape than 99.9% thought we would be at that point. I would expect more of the same. Lots of running. An occasional pass. A special teams highlight. We win, they lose. The game will probably go quickly. Florida 24 Georgia Southern 9. Game time is 2pm EST, 11pm PST…that’s kind of weird to type after all these years. No Vern. No Gary. Sunshine Network or ESPN3 are your choices. If you live in Central Ohio, good luck finding a place to watch the game because the OSU-Indiana game will be on at the same time. You, however, should join your local Gator Club where a last home game Victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles is best served with Gators! ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!

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A Must Win at the Cocktail Party

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Logo used on Gator helmets during the mid-1960s

Logo used on Gator helmets during the mid-1960s (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My simplest post yet, Gator Nation!

It boils down to this, we absolutely must win this game.  Our season is on the brink and a winning record and a possible bowl game are also at hand.  The fact that each team can possibly win the East Division is laughable.  The bottom line, though, is that we can’t have three straight losses to Georgia.  For a Gator fan this is an absolute must-win each year.  Yet, here we are on the brink.  Let’s talk some football…

Georgia is as banged up as we are, but get back uber running back, Todd Gurley, this weekend.  Likewise, their QB, Aaron Murray, is looking for a third straight victory over the Gators—which should be unheard of in this day and age.  They have a prolific offense and big receivers putting and are averaging 554 yards with Gurley in the offense.  That’s pretty much triple what we’ve put up in our last two games.  The Georgia defense is atrocious, but we’ve had the habit of becoming very one dimensional and making other teams appear to have dominant defenses.  The Bulldog’s defense is susceptible to runs outside the box.  This would appear to be a major reason why we will be starting Kelvin Taylor against them since he averages 7 yards a carry when rushing outside the box.  I’m hoping that the Gator Coaches are aware of this and not just randomly choosing a running back at this point because our offensive line isn’t going to open many holes up the middle.

Expect Taylor running early and often.  Otherwise, we will never be able to open up the passing game and the Georgia defense will tee off on Tyler Murphy like LSU and Missouri did.  The major key in all of this is turnovers.  We have to force at least 4 Georgia turnovers and not turn the ball over ourselves in order to rack up some offense.  It’s about that simple this week.  Force turnovers, control the ball, effectively run the ball and then win.  Both teams had Bye weeks and both are coming off two consecutive losses.  For the first time in awhile, this game is not getting any attention because both teams are unranked and unlikely to challenge for the East.  Coach Muschamp has to win this game to salvage the season AND generate some motivation heading into the final games.  Three straight losses to UGA is unacceptable and if Muschamp didn’t prepare this team for this particular game then my expectations for the future will pretty much be set.  Oh yeah, I want a Kickoff returned for a Gator TD just because.  Florida 24  Georgia 21.  Game time is 3:30EST, 12:30PST on CBS with, yes I’m afraid, Gary and Verne.  Maybe we should just turn down the TV volume and pump in Mic Hubert.  This is a good time to join your local Gator Club where Victory at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is best served with Gators!  ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!

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The Weather in Missouri

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University of Florida athletics "Gators&q...

University of Florida athletics “Gators” logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s all about the weather, Gator Nation!

When the Gators woke up this morning, it was 38 degrees where they were playing. It’s supposed to get into the high 50’s by kickoff. I know the weather isn’t what I normally talk about when it comes to Gator games, but understand the farthest north we generally play in the SEC schedule is Lexington, KY. It usually is pretty warm there too. Missouri’s chances of winning increase exponentially if the temperatures creep toward the 40’s at kickoff. I had this conversation with a fellow Gator on this just this week.  Let’s talk some football…

Weather aside, Missouri is a good team and lead the SEC East. They manhandled Georgia last week which was supposed to be their first test as team with a slew of soft games at the beginning. They have tons of offense and showed they could play physical defense at times last week. Of course, it must be noted they will be without starting QB, James Franklin, who is out for the next 3-5 weeks with a shoulder injury. Their backup is Maty Mauk who was a highly touted dual threat QB out of Ohio before redshirting last season. He is the heir apparent to this system and is probably very comfortable with this offense coming into the game. Even though it is his first game, I’d expect he will not perform poorly. He has three really big receivers to throw to…and I mean big…they are all 6’5 and 6’6. They dwarf our secondary which will have its hands full on the outside….meaning our pass rush has to show up this week after being dormant last week. Georgia was broken last week and their defense is not our defense. Still, the Tigers are good and are pretty much going to be the favorite unless something changes. Mizzou averages 40 points and 500 yards a game. This is not a good situation going in for the Gators, but it is also the way the SEC is setup and you step up when you have to do so. Something gives today, either our defense or their offense. I’m banking on our defense shutting down their offense.

That said, we are out Matt Jones for the season and Damian Jacobs for the game and I’ve heard that Ronald Powell is not at full strength. I get the whole “man out, man up” concept that Muschamp preaches, but that is all based on the fact that you have men to turn to when one goes out. We are rapidly losing players this season and the next few games are pretty critical to our success. I’d expect our defense to be more than they were last week and are probably ready to shut down the Tiger offense, but we have got to have a good running game today to setup our offense. Tyler Murphy as human last week, but let’s face it, our offensive line was useless against LSU. The fact that Murphy didn’t turn the ball over last week was impressive. Expect to see more Kelvin Taylor, but that also means poor pass blocking when he is in the game. Mack Brown has had a week to prepare. It is conceivable that we have a dominant run game today which will help slow down the Missouri pass attack only because our sustained drives will be 8-9 minutes long. We will definitely need a defensive or special teams score to help out today, along with a possible consistent field goal kicker. Who’d have thought our weak spot this year would have been punting and field goal kicking. Regardless, Mizzou’s defense isn’t LSU’s defense and we have A LOT to prove today because I’m sure the Gators have heard all week that they aren’t favored in the game. We play with what we got today. Florida 20 Missouri 17. Game time is 12:21 EST, 9:21PST on ESPN3 or Gameplan. I’m in the middle of Illinois so I don’t know where I’m going to watch it today. I may have a very stressful day with ESPN Gamecast. You should not. Join your local Gator Club where a Victory in our first visit ever at Missouri is best served with Gators! ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!

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Decision Time in Death Valley

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Leak Runnin the Offense toward the End Zone

Leak Runnin the Offense toward the End Zone (Photo credit: whateyesee13)

A definitive moment, Gator Nation!

We find out this weekend whether our defense is for real, whether our offense is actually becoming something more than just a run-only, ball protection scheme and whether LSU is actually the best team in the SEC. Into Death Valley we go and both teams are a much different version than the last two years. LSU is much different from last year’s team that visited The Swamp. In the last three games, the same can be said of the Gators. The winner of this game is the first one to establish their strength, our defense or LSU’s offense. Let’s talk some football…

Zach Mettenberger, LSU’s QB, was a non-factor last year. Enter Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator and the former transfer from Georgia is lighting up competition this year. He had the tools, but didn’t have the game plan or talent last year. He throws primarily to two good receivers, Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry, and when I mean primarily….I mean primarily. Between the two receivers they have 77 catches. Among the remaining 11 players who have caught a pass for LSU, their total is 31. So….yes, primarily the ball is going to one of those two players. Put or shut up time for our secondary this week?  You betcha. LSU also has Jeremy Hill who can pound the ball on the ground. This is about as balanced of an offensive attack that we will face this year. The question will be how fast a start does LSU get on offense compared to how our defense starts. We’ve been sluggish at the outset the last three games and LSU usually starts very hot on offense. That does not bode us well if we get into a hole in this game on the road. The flip side is that LSU’s defense is not their best in recent years. They’ve given up 21, 44, and 26 points against their last three SEC opponents. It will be interesting to see how our offense stacks up today. This definitely is our turning point in the season. Either we become the team to beat in the SEC East or not. The ball’s in our hands.

Everyone knows who Tyler Murphy is by now. One wonders if the had been a highly recruited QB if he would have been starting a couple of years ago. As it turns out, it doesn’t matter. He got to the big leagues and is making it count. Now Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas are one thing. If he plays like he has been against LSU then we’re probably about to see a meteoric rise in the marketing of Tyler Murphy. There is no doubt that our offense likes playing with Tyler Murphy. Whatever he brings to the huddle, it has been a good thing. Everyone is playing harder on that side of the ball and it is creating a situation that allows are defense to tee off on the opponent. We will definitely need that today. We’re not favored against LSU and the fact is, I don’t care. Everyone keeps pointing to 2011 where we took an absolutely thin team with a freshman QB in his first start and were abysmal. We are not that team anymore. I would definitely like to avoid the idiotic personal foul penalties we’ve received in recent games, but the fact is that our defense needs to set the tone for this game. It’s statement time and if our defense wants to be considered the best then they need to shut down the LSU offense to do so. Our offense just needs to keep doing what is doing and not turn the ball over. The loser’s out of the SEC Championship race. Either we’re for real or not. Time to make it real. Florida 27 LSU 23. Game time is 3:30pm EST, 12:30pm PST on CBS with Verne and Gary (sigh!). Get to your local Gator Club where a Victory over LSU in Death Valley is best served with Gators! ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!

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Is 2013 the Year?

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The Streak, Gator Nation.

None of us even need to think about what we’re referencing when we say it. For 26 games we have beaten the Kentucky Wildcats in football and most years it is not even close. Enter Mark Stoops in his first year as coach. He’s going to do everything he can to get this streak ended. Kentucky will NEVER be considered a football threat until they do so. Heck, they beat LSU the year they won the BCS National Championship and no one talks about that loss. It’s the streak and with the exception of two years, 1993’s Wuerffel to Doering and 2003’s improbable comeback by Freshman Chris Leak, this is a series owned by the Gators. Is every ten year’s the time that the forces align to give Kentucky an edge over a team that generally has better talent, depth and coaching? Is 2013 the year? Let’s talk some football…

Little known fact…actually very little known…I was at both games in Lexington in 1993 and 2003 for completely random reasons. Both games were absolute heart-stoppers and the feeling afterwards when we won was none like you’ve ever experienced because we should not have won either game. We clearly should not even be speaking of a streak. Every ten years. Kentucky is an under-sized team that has very little depth, one receiver of note (Javess Blue) and two average QB’s. They do have a defense that plays hard….really, really hard…but they are very small and not deep at all. They took it to Louisville for a half and were it not for two turnovers in the red zone we could be talking about a big upset. Of course, Louisville kept trying for the homerun throw in the first half before settling for short routes in the second to move the ball. Kentucky has had a bye week to prepare and Mark Stoops knows us from his days as defensive coordinator at FSU. They will have a solid game plan and I’d expect it to be uncomfortable for the first half. However, it is really not difficult to know what the Florida game plan will be. We will run the ball and try to knock the other team off the line and keep pounding and pounding it. It is whether Kentucky can stop us or not. There are A LOT of people right now who think we are primed for an upset this weekend based upon our significant losses this week. The streak is going to come to an end, but not this weekend.

Coach Muschamp doesn’t put any faith in the streak and justifiably so. You can’t run a team off such things. He also is, clearly, not the type who is going to change his ways either. It isn’t pretty but he is winning games so we have to go with it. I would expect quite a bit from Mack Brown this weekend. Matt Jones has 2 fumbles in 2 games and we absolutely can’t afford any turnovers in this game. Maybe we survive 1 turnover and possibly 2, but if we get into 3+ then UK will know this could be their time. I’ve given up on expecting any downfield passing so any that we have will be bonus territory in my mind. I would expect Brent Pease and Joker Phiilips to try something very early on to test the waters in their return to Lexington. It will possibly be the first play or in the first series. That’s just a guess on my part. It is still Muschamp’s team and we’re gonna run. The loss of Easley will be seen in weeks to come but probably not this week. We still have significant depth and talent on the defensive side of the ball and Kentucky hasn’t seen anything like this yet. Finally, Tyler Murphy will be fine. I don’t foresee him trying to do to much. Just move the ball and get first downs. The rest will take care of itself. I am secretly hoping for us to return a Kickoff for a Gator TD, but that’s a whole different discussion. Florida 24 Kentucky 13. Game time is 7pm EST, 4pm PST on ESPNU—look for me in the crowd in the Gator section. A good night to join your local Gator Club because a Gator Victory over Kentucky on the road at night is best served with Gators! ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!

Interior of the University of Kentucky's Commo...

Interior of the University of Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Tyler Murphy and the Kentucky Streak

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Note: This was written before learning about the injury to Dominque Easley.

Unexpected consequences from the weekend, Gator Nation!

I have heard many different reactions to the news that Jeff Driskel was out for the season. The fact remains that he was our starter. His record in the last two years is 13-3 with wins over LSU, South Carolina, and FSU in that span. That demands respect regardless of the miscues and the missed opportunities (Miami, UGA and Louisville). So I’m not going to jump up an down that we have a new QB in spite of our offensive struggles. You do have to keep in mind that we will play the remainder of this season (UGA, @ LSU, @ SoCAR, FSU and Arkansas) with no QBs who have ever started in a Gator uniform or have started a collegiate game in their career. Sobering I know.

That said…..there is room for hope. I think being Jeff Driskel has been the hardest thing about him being QB. He’s thrust into the limelight. We’re told he’s in the mold of Tim Tebow (big, strong and fast). He’s expected to produce gaudy offensive numbers. I think in the last 16 games he’s tried to do way too much at times. It’s those times when he has tried to do more than he is actually capable of doing is when we turn the ball over multiple times in a game and lose. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have had high expectations, but some people handle the burden better than others. If you go back to the play where he breaks his leg, he held the ball way to long in the hope that the play would finally develop and he would have some place to throw it. Can’t knock the desire to win, but realistically, we needed him to throw the ball away and move to the next play.

Enter Tyler Murphy. Exactly how many of you knew who are backup QB was? Ok—now that you’ve fibbed a bit—how many figured he’d play the majority of just one game this year? Nice. Now we’re starting to come back to reality. Tyler Murphy had absolutely no pressure on him in the world. We need to praise the fact that he is very diligent in his preparations and was ready to go when called, but this guy has NOT been getting the majority of the snaps in this offense. While he had his miscues on Saturday, he never tried to do more than he was capable. He was solid, relaxed and let the defense set the offense up to score when needed. It’s gonna be really, really, really different this weekend at Lexington.

Last weekend, Tyler Murhpy woke up on Saturday “hoping” to get into the game. This weekend he enters having taken all the snaps in practice and expecting to start…on the road…against a Kentucky Wildcat team that really, really, really, really, really wants to end this streak we have going on against them. Really!

I liked what Tyler Murhpy showed us this past weekend and I’m optimistically hopeful this weekend where I will be in the stands for the game (Go Gators!). I do not have unrealistic expectations though. This will be the perfect environment to test his mettle on the road against a team that will try its hardest to win. They are undermanned, lack the speed and talent to keep up and will probably face what will be the best defense they will face all year, but they are inspired. Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops has a slogan that is everywhere in Lexington that says “Attack Every Play”. So while they will be smaller on both lines, they will still do this all game long.

The Streak has taken on a life of its own. Each more and more is written and, believe me, UK knows that they will never be considered a successful football program until they end it. They never thought that a cold, damp day in 1986 was the last time they would win against us.  The QB for Kentucky at that time was a guy named Bill Ransdall.  He played high school ball about 5 miles from where I grew up in Kentucky.  He was four years ahead of me in school and, while he didn’t go to my high school (which was 9 miles from my house..go figure) it was a big deal to have a local talent as the QB for a collegiate program.  It was a good win, but if you were paying attention to Florida in the 80’s it was not a conceivable notion that we were headed to be one of the conference dominant forces at that time.  We were good, just not that good.

Now 27 games later, the Wildcats are aching to end this streak. They were fortunate a couple years ago to end a similar streak to Tennessee. If they get this one off their backs, it will be like a quickening of epic proportions for them. They had two chances in the streak to end it and both occurred a decade at a part in 1993 and 2003. The most notable being 1993’s Wuerffel to Doering. What does 2013 have in store for us?

The streak is going to end. That’s why I don’t put much faith in them. None the less, even with our loss of our starting QB, we still have depth that Kentucky does not and a defense that will be relentless. That should be our saving grace, along with a solid offensive plan…and maybe a kickoff returned for a Gator TD. Join your local Gator Club this weekend where Victory is best served with Gators! ‘Nuff said.

Tune in tomorrow for the weekly game summary.

Go Gators!

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